A steam iron for removing creases from the fabric of a garment or other material is well known. A conventional steam iron comprises a main body with a handle which is held by a user, and has a sole plate with a planar surface which is pressed against the fabric of a garment. A water receiving chamber and a boiler or steaming chamber are disposed in the main body, so that water is fed from the water receiving chamber into the boiler or steaming chamber and converted into steam. The steam is then discharged from the boiler through vent holes in the sole plate towards the fabric of a garment. The steam is used to heat up and momentarily moisten the fabric of the garment in an attempt to obtain effective removal of creases from the fabric.
However, in a conventional steam iron as described above, the sole plate is heated to a high temperature which heats up the garment and reduces the effective moistening of the fabric.
Moreover, the hot sole plate may also over heat the garment and cause undesired consequences such as shine or deformation.
In addition, in a conventional steam iron only a limited number of vent holes are formed through the sole plate and so moistening of the fabric of the garment mainly occurs in the area of vent holes. Other areas of the fabric that are not disposed in the area of a vent hole are heated directly by the hot soleplate and become drier, leading to less effective crease removal.